


Starlight in Your Smile

by PersephoneRambles



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, Immortality, M/M, Modern Setting, NASA, POV Marco Bott, Space Flight, and other secret nasa-like organizations, androids and aliens, but also futuristic setting, day 2 - ship positivity, end of the world imminent, everyone's ages are ambiguous for the most part, snkpositivityweek, we going to space!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 04:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15235086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PersephoneRambles/pseuds/PersephoneRambles
Summary: When the world faces an unstoppable threat, scientists scramble to preserve what they can of humanity. Marco would much rather live a quiet life, but it seems his unique gift makes him the perfect candidate to rest the future of the human race on.





	Starlight in Your Smile

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know, is that a worthwhile summary? Help, I haven't done this before. Wanted to post this for #snkpositivityweek Ship Day. Not much happens first chapter, just setting the tone for how Marco views himself and his ability. Action (and romance!) to come later on.

I didn’t know I was different at first. Or at least, my parents didn’t tell me. I suppose they couldn’t have known for awhile either. Their toddler falls off the bed or trips on the stairs and they don’t think much of it when he comes out unscathed. When he falls over backwards on his swing and isn’t scratched, they praise him for landing well. When he crashes his bicycle into the mailbox and is hardly bruised, they say he’s lucky.

But when he grabs cupcakes from the oven barehanded because he thinks he’s being a good helper, his parents frantically check his hands for burns that never show, exchanging a concerned look while he stuffs his face with frosting.

And when he is underwater for nearly 3 minutes during their family beach trip, they back away with terrified looks as he coughs up a lungful of seawater and goes right back to playing.

So yeah, I guess I was always different. It wasn’t until third grade that I was truly aware. Then it hit me. Literally. A car.

What would have killed any other 8 year old merely knocked me to the ground. I’m not gonna lie, it hurt. When something punches you at 30 miles an hour it’s going to sting, even if you are immortal. I remember being dazed, head pounding, my stomach and legs feeling like they were on fire. I remember the screaming and crying as people came to help, fearing the worst. I remember seeing my blood outside my body for the very first time, watching purple bruises appear on my arms and then…

...they vanished.

In front of every adult watching--bruises quickly receded to normal skin tone, cuts sealed up. For the first time I realized something was very wrong with me.

By the time the paramedics came, there was nothing to see. They still took me to the hospital, demanding I stay still, saying I might not feel it yet because of the adrenaline. Police questioned the driver and witnesses, but from what I could tell, no one mentioned my...ability. Some argued it must have been a trick of the light, that I never _really_ had been injured. Some said they saw a guardian angel push me out of the way of the car.

But I knew. Eight years old and I _knew._ I was different.

I was alone.

My parents of course had already come to the same conclusion. When they picked me up from the hospital they nodded politely as doctors told them I had no signs of concussion or broken bones. My mom hugged me tightly and asked if I was okay. I assured her I was. And that was that. They took me home in silence and never brought it up again.

Until my sister was born.

Our age gap was enough for me to be extra careful around Lea. Somehow we were all waiting--my parents and I--to see if she would be special like me. When Lea fell off the jungle gym and came crying, blood pouring from a gash across her forehead, my heart sank. I think my parents breathed a sigh of relief.

They took me aside that night and told me what was already obvious. “You need to be very gentle with your sister. She’s not...like you. She’s like the kids at your school. They can’t play as rough as you can, they’ll get hurt.” And so I played alone. Climbing trees a little too high. Swimming a little too deep. At the zoo they had a children’s exhibit to test how long you could hold your breath. I got bored after six minutes.

I thought the loneliness would be the worst part; being the shy kid who ate alone during high school, not joining sports so I wouldn’t draw attention to myself. I didn’t know it could get so much worse.

Like when my lab partner in college drowned in a boating accident. Like when my coworker had to quit work because the chemotherapy was too much for him. Like when I watched the driver in front of me lose control on the icy road.

I played those scenes over and over in my head. Why couldn’t they have been born like me? Why couldn’t I have been born like _them?_ Why, why, _why?_

The truth was, I didn't want to seem ungrateful for whatever miracle I had been given. I would never get sick like other people, I would never have to worry in dangerous neighborhoods. I had a gift, really. So I tried to put on a smile when I visited home, focusing on the positives, knowing that the people I cared about had less time on their clocks than I did. Lea saw through me instantly.

"Your face looks like someone photoshopped a bad greeting card smile between your polka dots," she told me after our parents went to bed. "Too bad no one touched up your soulless eyes. Is adult life really that bad?" She stretched out across the couch with a grin, feet propped up on an arm rest. 

"Only four more years of college until you find out," I said, sitting on her. Soon her arms were pounding on me trying to push me off.

"Marco noooo! Your big butt is too heavy!" Her laugh was contagious and soon we were both in hysterics as she rolled me onto the floor with all her strength. I was grateful for the laughter, it was a needed distraction. Lea was a formidable force, which probably came from having an indestructible brother. She never had to hold her punches around me, and while I was always reminded to play gently with her, she never grew up with such warnings. Watching her graduate high school was one of the proudest moments of my life.

Once I was successfully on the floor Lea's face grew serious. "But seriously, Mars, what's got you so down? I thought you had a dream job. This isn't about your breakup with Nate is it?"

"Not...directly," I said, letting out a sigh.

"What, did you slice off a finger and he saw it grow back?"

"No, no, nothing like that. _I_ broke up with _him_. I just...couldn't handle it." We both grew quiet for a moment, the sound of the dish washer drifting over from the kitchen. Eventually I broke the silence.

"There was an accident on my way home. I guess the driver caught an icy patch, because one minute he was right in front of me and the next he was in a ditch. He walked away from it, I made sure to stay until help came, but just...what if he hadn't?" I leaned my head against the couch. "I'm so tired of the people around me getting hurt." Lea seemed to think for a moment.

"But that would happen even if you didn't have super powers."

"They're not-"

"People get hurt all the time! Imagine you were born like me. Someone breaks their arm, your friend drinks too much, you get...I don't know...measles and die. It just happens. And you can't get bummed about it. Otherwise you'll live your whole life bummed out and you might as well turn into a big bummed ball of slime."

"That was very eloquent, I see why they gave you your diploma," I said with a smirk, dodging before Lea could kick me in the head. Even though her pep talk wasn't the best she was trying. She cared, and she listened.

"It must suck." That was her way of acknowledging other people's feelings. It did suck, but I was also probably being a little too melodramatic. 

"Thanks, bug." I hated being so alone. I wished I could have normal relationships, normal friendships. But I did have people that cared about me, sometimes that made it all worth it. Other times I wanted to run away as far as I could and never come back.

I guess I finally accomplished the latter.


End file.
